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US citizen, 67, ‘has six ribs broken’ by Border Patrol agents, his running club says
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2025
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I have a very active, physical job, and I break a rib or two every decade or so, just to remind myself that I'm alive - it reminds you with every breath for a few weeks. I already had this decade 's break earlier this year.
So I know what it takes to break a rib, and what it feels like. I can't imagine the kind of force it took to break SIX ribs badly enough to cause internal bleeding. I've taken some terrible falls, and I've never hurt myself anywhere near that badly.
To cause that kind of damage to an unarmed person cannot be justified in any way. Surely they could have detained him without causing that level of injury.
And he was an innocent American citizen? I hope he sues the Federal Government, ICE, Holman, Noem, Trump, and the ICE Nazis who injured him.
Pay the man.
You legitimize ICE by using the terminology of actual law enforcement. They didn’t “detain” him, they assaulted and kidnapped him.
Valid.
And why? He's a US citizen in a vehicle. Why is ICE even touching him at all?
They're not law enforcement and have no reason to touch US citizens. We're not required to show our papers to them.
To be clear (I don't think you're suggesting this), it should not fucking matter.
Valid, but it does matter that as an innocent American citizen, they shouldn't even have been LOOKING in his general direction, to say nothing of trying to murder him.
If I were him, I'd be working on my wish list of expensive stuff I'm going to buy when I get my multiple settlements.
Unfortunately not that much force is really required when you're dealing with someone who is 67. The elderly are a lot more fragile, even if they are in great shape for their age. Which is why anyone without a brain disease knows to be gentle when assisting the elderly.
There is no reason to use this much force against an unarmed senior citizen other than to physically harm them.
Remember in the first Trump administration, when they were just practicing their cruelty, and they permanently disabled an old man for having the nerve to politely return a riot cops helmet that he had dropped? In response, the cop shoved the old guy, knocking him down, bashing his head, and destroying his life.
I will never forget watching that video, and as the old guy hit the pavement and laid there, a trickle of blood came out of his ear, and I knew he was seriously injured.
That was an accident, now they're doing purposefully.
No it wasn't
I remember the video. He shoved the guy away, but I don't think he meant to knock him down. The cop seemed really disturbed by it at the time, as well. He was not happy about it, but that's what happens when you join up with a fascist authoritarian force to abuse your fellow citizens - you find yourself doing heinous shit that they told you on Sunday School would send you straight to Hell.
I remember they didn’t help him back up either so on purpose or not really doesn’t make a difference.
Valid. I'm not defending the guy, I just saw his immediate remorse.
And I was glad to see it. He joined up thinking it would be service to his country, and even kind of fun. Now he finds himself oppressing his fellow citizens, and trying to keep that tough face, knowing he's in the wrong place.
Then this happens to him, and his regret was palpable. I don't know whatever happened to that guy, but he was clearly having conflicts with his role. I'll bet he is still feeling guilty over his actions, which he deserves.
If he's still on board, then he deserves any bad karma or addictions or poor mental health he suffers as a result.
Would be really interesting to hear from him
What do you do that you regularly break ribs? Like sports? Or do you bolster the weight of something with your torso? I've worked a not very intense physical jobs, but more physical jobs than customer service or office work, but I can't think of how one would keep breaking ribs
It's not that often, just once every ten years or so. I fell off the back of a truck once. A five foot fall onto your side on pavement will do it.
Once I did it chasing a duck so I could pick it up for my son at a big petting farm. I was chasing the duck, it juked around a tree, and as I juked with it, I realized I was about to mow down a grandma and her little grandson. So I threw myself out of the way, and went down hard. My son was about 5 then. He's 26 now.
This year, I fell pushing a small compressed gas dewar, and the wheel caught in a crack in the sidewalk, and we both went over, I fell on the tank, and broke a couple of ribs. There have been other times, too. I first did it as a teen on a Boy Scout trip. Like I said, about once a decade.
I don't even go to the doctor any more. I know what it feels like, and I know what he's going to do - nothing. I can do that without wasting my time.
I have realized that most of my injuries have been caused by moving too quickly. I am trying to measure my movements more carefully, and take my time. As I get older, it takes longer to recover.
A tip I was given as a teenager from an old medicine man/ massage therapist: Ensure that you are only bending on one axis at a time. Most injuries that he saw occured when someone was bending and twisting thereby causing stress on multiple axes at a time. I'm 45 and by heeding this advice, I have avoided injuring myself quite a lot. Tumbling classes also helps immensely, but you kinda need those as a toddler/kid.
Oh man do I have to keep you like this in mind. Way to often I find myself doing something difficult and repetitive cantilevered out and twisted. I'll suddenly realize it and think wtf am I doing?
Re: tumbling classes I think I got similar benefits from being bad at roller skating as a kid. I learned to fall gracefully and often, and tuck your hands close to your body so no one runs over your fingers.
You got some weak bones. Drink some more milk or learn how to fall better. A five foot drop shouldn’t break your ribs. I say this as someone who rides downhill mountain bike and crashes often and from higher than 2 meters.
I don't have weak bones, I just live life like I mean it. If you don't get an injury now and then, you ain't having enough fun. I'm also a large, heavy, muscular guy, so I don't tend to bounce, I tend to smash.
And what the fuck do you know about falling off the back of a truck anyway? You weren't there. You can simply declare that I wasn't injured by a five foot dead fall to the pavement? This is how it works - you fall on your side, your arm under your ribcage, and either your arm gives way, or your ribcage does (or your clavicle, which I've never broken, thankfully). The rib cage is weaker, so it flexes, and if it flexes enough it cracks. A five foot fall is more than enough to do it. I did it this year falling from a standing position. I was the one taking shallow breaths for 3 weeks, I know what's up. It could be that I keep breaking them in the same spots, too, I don't know, I haven't kept track of the exact locations of my rib breaks.
I actually did shatter my humerus once, but that's another story, and a pretty boring one, really. Lots of surgery and titanium hardware, that one will never break again, I'm essentially a cyborg now.
Oh yeah, I also broke a rib in a bike crash once, cuz I don't ride like a pussy.
Lol. That legit made me laugh. If i were you i’d be wearing a bubble wrap suit because having a borked rib is the worst.
Keep on being awesome stranger.
Edit: Since you decided to add extra with your edit here is my edit:
Did you not read the downhill mountain biking part of my post? I'm talking 5 meter gap jumps and 3 meter high drops. I'm a big guy too. And I crash a lot on really gnarly stuff. But I learned how to fall when I was in the army, and I drink lots of milk to keep my bones strong. Even if you just learn how to fall properly you can reduce the amount of injuries you receive, although at 45 it might be hard to change those reactions. I learned how to fall long before my 40s so your mileage may vary.
We saw someone on TV (maybe Shark Tank) who had invented some kind of motorcycle jacket with a built-in airbag, and my wife said I should wear one at all times.
I once had a friend and neighbour who was an aikido sensei. He was kind of an awkward dork, but magically calm and centered physically. One thing aikido is good at is endless fall training.
He once had a truck swerve toward him and his response had his motorcycle aiming at two older women on the sidewalk, so he cranked it hard into a hedge with a small wall behind it. He was going fast enough that it launched him off the bike and all the way across the yard to the front door of the house.
Naturally he executed a perfect roll and finished on his feet facing back at the old gals on the sidewalk before he knew what he was doing. He nodded politely and tried to keep his cool and a superhero aura for comedic effect despite being freaked out at flying around 30 feet or so, but it’s a good story about how training is bigger than you at times.
I hope there are good lawyers involved in this case we gotta start making serious dents in that $78 billion ~~budget~~ grift.